Jazz Brecker Fun And Cerebral

This album starts out fun, then works its way to very serious and cerebral without missing a beat. It is at once fresh and studied, a testimonial to the improvisational savvy of the musicians.

Make no mistake, these are not lightweights. The album includes the likes of bassist Charlie Haden and Peter Erskine, drummer Jack DeJohnette and, on two cuts, keyboard master Herbie Hancock.

The players lay down a solid foundation for Brecker`s musical explorations on tenor saxophone and Akai EWI. And while Brecker`s work has an experimental feel, it never falters, moving straight ahead with reckless abandon.

The opening track, Itsbynne Reel, and the finale Talking to Myself are outstanding bookends for an album strongly reminiscent of Brecker`s efforts on guitarist Pat Metheny`s 80/81.

The similarities are most striking on Scriabin, Suspone and the title track. That`s not surprising on the first and the latter, which feature Haden and DeJohnette, the 80/81 rhythm section. But on Suspone, the parallel is born from a Metheny-like performance by guitarist Mike Stern that is uncanny. At one point, Stern even mimics a signature Metheny chop. What is refreshing is that it appears more an evolution of the ideas begun during the earlier work rather than a rehashing of someone else`s album.